EcoWorld International plans new business direction from FY2025

• Proposed Termination of Collaboration Agreement – this will remove the geographical restriction previously agreed between EWI and EW Malaysia thus enabling EWI to invest in and undertake property development activities in Malaysia.
• To avoid any market confusion with EcoWorld Malaysia once EWI actively enters the Malaysia market, the company’s name is proposed to be changed to “EWI Capital Berhad”.

KUALA LUMPUR (April 30): Eco World International (EWI) is proposing a New Strategic Business Direction from FY2025 onwards which will involve expanding its geographical scope of operations to broaden its revenue base and accelerate income generation, among other things.

Of note, the expansion of its “geographical scope” will mean the termination Collaboration Agreement with EcoWorld Malaysia (EW Malaysia) which was entered into in October 2016 to establish a framework for mutual collaboration and strategic alliance.

This will remove the geographical restriction previously agreed between EWI and EW Malaysia enabling EWI to invest in and undertake property development activities in Malaysia.

Via the agreement, EWI did not undertake any property development or investments in Malaysia; and EW Malaysia agreed not to undertake any property development or investments outside Malaysia, except through EWI.

To date, EWI has only operated in the UK and Australia. As at Feb 28, 2025, the Group has completed the development of 10 projects in the United Kingdom (UK) and 2 projects in Australia with cumulative sales achieved of RM19 billion.

In a media release, EW Malaysia stated that since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, residential property market conditions in the UK and Australia have posed challenges for new project launches. Supply chain disruptions, high energy prices and tight labour markets have driven up development costs while high mortgage rates continue to constrain the purchasing power of homebuyers.

As such, over the past few years, EWI has pursued a stock monetisation strategy to return excess cash available to shareholders. This approach was supported by the shareholders of EWI who approved two consecutive rounds of capital reduction which were completed on Aug 3, 2023 and May 20, 2024 respectively (capital reductions).

Following completion of the capital reductions, EWI declared a total of RM1.2 billion in dividends to its shareholders in FY2023 and FY2024.

The successful execution of its stock monetisation strategy has also enabled EWI to be debt-free since March 2024.

Proposal to terminate Collaboration Agreement

To enable EWI to pursue its New Strategic Business Direction, which includes exploring property investment and/or development opportunities in Malaysia, while maintaining its presence in the UK and Australia real estate markets, the following measures, besides the proposed termination of the Collaboration Agreement, are therefore required:

1 Following the termination of the Collaboration Agreement, the objective of the parties to adopt a common “EcoWorld” brand name as envisaged in the Brand License Agreement entered into between the parties in 2014 will thus no longer subsist. Accordingly, the Brand License Agreement will be terminated simultaneously with the termination of the Collaboration Agreement.
2 In line with the above and to avoid any market confusion with EcoWorld Malaysia once EWI actively enters the Malaysia market, the company’s name is proposed to be changed to “EWI Capital Berhad”. This reflects the company’s history as part of the EcoWorld Group whilst establishing a new platform for the development of a stand-alone proprietary brand identity in line with EWI’s evolving strategic business direction.

To address potential conflict of interest situations between two listed companies seeking to operate in the same industry and geographical market, Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin and Datuk Heah Kok Boon have voluntarily resigned as directors of EWI on April 30, 2025. Liew is the executive chairman and Heah is an alternate director of EW Malaysia.

Following their resignations, EW Malaysia will no longer be privy to EWI’s business strategies or be able to exercise any significant influence over its financial and operating policy decisions.

Accordingly, EcoWorld Malaysia will de-recognise its 29% stake in EWI as an associate company and instead, recognise it as a simple investment.

“After much deliberation, our Board and management team are of the view that the best way forward for EWI would be to explore new investment and development opportunities in Malaysia.

“We aim to do this whilst maintaining our presence and retaining access to the UK and Australia real estate markets, with the flexibility to launch our remaining sites when market conditions improve,” said Datuk Teow Leong Seng, president & CEO of EWI.

“Whilst our entry into the Malaysian property market requires the termination of the existing Collaboration Agreement, there should still be opportunities for us to work together with EcoWorld Malaysia in a different manner in the future.

“Depending on the nature and type of projects that we undertake in Malaysia, one possibility could be in the area of development management services to be provided by EcoWorld Malaysia, given that we do not presently have our own property development team here,” he added.

“As a major shareholder, EcoWorld Malaysia stands to benefit from EWI’s efforts to pursue a more robust business strategy going forward. Acceleration of income recognition by EWI will help to protect and potentially enhance the value of its shares, thereby safeguarding the value of our 29% stake in the company,” said Datuk Chang Khim Wah, president & CEO of EcoWorld Malaysia.

“In addition, the removal of the geographical restriction previously agreed upon with EWI will free us to directly explore and pursue compelling investments in real estate or development projects outside Malaysia that are aligned with our brand strength, execution capabilities and strategic objectives.

“This may include opportunities in Singapore where EcoWorld Malaysia already has an established marketing presence and enjoys good brand recognition, to further diversify the Group’s revenue sources and expand our market reach,” he added.

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